


Sharp

by jetsfanforlyfe



Category: Glee
Genre: Blood, Graphic Medical Descriptions, M/M, Medical Procedures, Villain!Sebastian, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-03
Updated: 2013-06-03
Packaged: 2017-12-13 21:42:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/829188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jetsfanforlyfe/pseuds/jetsfanforlyfe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Instead of a slushy, Sebastian brings a knife to the Jackson-off. Warnings for blood, injury, violence, and medical squick</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was written about a year and a half ago, and I realized I'd never moved it here.

The last notes of the song echo around the parking garage, New Directions lined up facing the Warblers. None of them see Sebastian reaching into the waistband of his pants. Kurt's smirking across the divide, taunting Sebastian. The rest of New Directions is breathing heavily, fairly certain in their victory.

Blaine sees Sebastian's hand swinging up, the glint of metal. It takes him less than a second to piece together what's about to happen. Kurt's standing directly in Sebastian's line of sight, Sebastian advancing towards him.

Blaine moves before he realizes what he's doing, planting his hand on Kurt's chest and shoving his boyfriend away, out of the trajectory of the knife. Sebastian's hand comes down, ends where Kurt was standing seconds earlier. Blaine catches it instead, high in his right thigh.

Everything happens at once.

Blaine falls, screaming, his hands going straight to his upper thigh.

Sebastian lets go of the knife, stunned.

Kurt drops to his knees, catches Blaine before his head can hit the ground.

Everyone else is yelling, moving, the whole group thrown into chaos.

Luckily, Puck's quick on his feet, is already connected to 9-1-1, speaking rapidly over the receiver as Mike drops next to Kurt, trying to see what's wrong. The Warblers leave, slinking away. Several of them look back in shock, terrified, while Santana screams obscenities at them in both Spanish and English, only held back from chasing them by Brittany's hands around her upper arms.

"The cops will get him," Finn offers, unable to tear his eyes from Blaine's form, writhing on the ground. "We have his name, we know where he is."

"How's Blaine?" Puck asks, his hand over the mouthpiece of the phone. He's moved closer to them, face tight with worry as he looks down. Blaine hasn't stopped screaming, his voice hoarse but laced with pain as he keeps his eyes shut, tears leaking out. "They've sent an ambulance, but they need more information."

Kurt's hands are shaking, his face white as he rolls Blaine over onto his back with Mike's help. Blaine's hands are clenched around his right thigh, already slick with blood and holding onto the knife, still embedded there. Blood is spurting around the knife, pulsing over Blaine's hands, the handle of the knife, onto the ground. Puck relays this information to the operator, listening intently.

"Don't take it out!" he cries, effectively stopping Kurt from pulling the knife out. "She says to leave it in, but put pressure on the wound."

"What do we use?" Kurt asks, his voice high and dripping with barely concealed panic. "I don't have any cloth-"

"Ireland, your shirt," Santana cries, already pulling it from Rory's shoulders without taking off his jacket, her motions desperate and jerky. In the mess of leather, Rory's wearing the only shirt that will really absorb any of the blood.

They manage to get the shirt off, and Santana tosses it to Mike, who jams it against Blaine's thigh, pressing down. Blaine cries out, jerks away instinctively, but Mike holds on, keeping pressure and keeping the knife steady.

"He's lost so much blood already," Kurt whispers, pulling Blaine's head into his lap and brushing the curls that have sprung loose off Blaine's forehead. Blaine whimpers, his screams dying away, and turns his face against Kurt's leg. Mike places a shaking hand against Blaine's knee, trying to offer comfort as he keeps pressing on the wound.

"I'm going to kill that prep school douchebag," Santana hisses, her hands clenched into fists at her side. Brittany's standing next to her, reaches for her hand. Everyone's visibly afraid, Rachel and Tina crying, the whole club clustered around Blaine. Puck steps back again, speaking rapidly into the phone. His voice rises and falls as he argues with the operator, before coming back.

"The ambulance is on its way, and she's sending the cops, too. She says to just keep pressure, don't let go. And leave the knife. How's he doing?"

Puck drops to the floor next to Mike, who looks up, shakes his head. Puck curses quietly, squeezing Blaine's ankle.

"Hang in there, Anderson. No one said you could leave us one short for Regionals, okay?"

Blaine chokes out a noise halfway between a laugh and a groan, and kicks his uninjured leg, reflexively trying to curl around the pain. Kurt quiets him, stroking gently along his cheekbone.

"Blaine, honey, stay still, okay? Help is coming, they're coming to help. You just gotta-you gotta hang in there. Blaine, stay awake, baby, okay? Stay awake."

Blaine's blinking sluggishly the longer they stay on the floor, and it's clearly hard for him to keep his eyes open. His complexion is ashen, his lips dry, and he reaches a hand up to Kurt's face. His fingers are shaking, covered in blood.

"Kur-"

"No," Kurt chokes out, grasping the intention behind Blaine's motion. "You're not saying goodbye. Not now, Blaine. You're going to be fine."

"Kurt, if-"

"Blaine, please," Kurt begs, tears welling in his eyes as he takes Blaine's hand, entwines their fingers. "Please don't do this."

"It hurts so bad," Blaine whispers, closing his eyes as Mike adjusts his grip, presses harder. "God, Kurt, it hurts."

"I know, baby," Kurt soothes, running his hand along Blaine's shoulder, crying in earnest now. "I know. Help's coming."

He looks down towards Blaine's legs, nearly gags when he finally sees everything.

There's blood pooled underneath Blaine, soaking Rory's shirt, painted up Mike's arms. Enough of it has spurted from the wound that Mike's shirt is spattered, and Kurt's terrified.

How much blood can Blaine afford to loose?

"It's not stopping," Mike whispers, his hands slippery with Blaine's blood. He doesn't let go, just keeps holding on. "He needs help now, where are they?"

"'don feel good," Blaine mumbles against Kurt's pants, turning his head. "Kurt-"

Kurt slides away just in time, bracing Blaine on his side as best he can. Mike follows, keeping his grip on Blaine's leg, and Blaine vomits repeatedly, crying and shivering in Kurt's arms. When his retching subsides, they roll him back gently, Kurt stroking along his cheek.

"Blaine? Blaine, honey, come on! Blaine!"

"He's unconscious!"

"Why aren't they here yet?"

Everyone's shouting, but Kurt's world zeroes onto Blaine's slack face. Blaine's eyes are closed, his lashes stark against his too-pale skin.

Kurt's ears are roaring, everyone around him shouting at him, over him, around him.

Nothing matters except Blaine.

A hand lands on Kurt's shoulder, and he jerks, Blaine's head slipping from his lap. He's ready to fight the person, ready to push them away, when he focuses, realizes it's a young woman in a uniform, kneeling next to him.

Mike's been pushed away too, two other medics taking his place. The one next to Kurt pulls Blaine's head gently away, taking Kurt's arm.

"Let's give them some room, okay, honey? Are you hurt?"

"It's all his," Kurt whispers, looking down at his hands, his blood-stained fingers. Mike is sitting in the back of an ambulance, being looked over by another medic, trying to explain that all of the blood is Blaine's.

There's so much of it.

Kurt turns away from the medic supporting him, walks three steps, and throws up. His knees buckle, and he's about to fall, hit the ground, when she's back next to him, holding him up, guiding him gently to the ground.

"Easy, honey. Let's sit you down. Are you dizzy?"

"Blaine-"

"We're taking care of him, okay? What about you? What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Kurt. I'm not hurt. Please, you have to-you have to save him-"

"He your brother?"

"He's my boyfriend."

She nods, her fingers resting against Kurt's wrist to take his pulse. She carefully looks him over, reassures herself that he's not injured in any way.

Kurt can't keep his eyes off of Blaine.

They've stabilized the knife, packed around it with gauze and tape. One medic's starting an IV in Blaine's arm, the other checking his pupils, slipping an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth.

"He's still loosing blood, we've gotta pack up and go."

"The IV's in. His pressure's low, 90/60, and his pulse is tachy."

"He's going into shock, he's lost at least a liter on the ground. We good to transport?"

"Let's get him on a board and go. Call dispatch and let them know we're bringing in a sixteen year old male, femoral laceration, severe blood loss. He's gonna need to be red-lined to the OR."

"Wait! Wait, can I-I need to go with him, please-"

"Honey, let them do their job. We'll get you there, okay? There's not enough room in the back of the ambulance."

"Blaine-"

"Kurt, he's going to be okay." Mike walks over, still covered in Blaine's blood, and takes Kurt's hand. "Look at me, okay? Let the paramedics do their job. Let them get him help. We'll go wait for him there, okay?"

"The police are going to want to question all of you," the medic who's been taking care of Mike advises, looking both boys up and down. "You should probably hang around-"

"They can be questioned at the hospital, too. Kurt here should probably be checked over for shock."

"This is a crime scene, if-"

"Look at them," the female medic hisses, stepping away from Kurt and Mike and taking her coworker by the arm. "They're kids, Rick, and their friend's probably dying right now. Give them a break."

The heated conversation is interrupted by the arrival of several police cars, the scene suddenly awash in red and blue light. The area is roped off, yellow police tape creating a perimeter around where Blaine fell.

This is a crime scene. They're all witnesses to a crime.

Kurt and Mike are bundled into a police cruiser after answering a few basic questions, the female paramedic riding with them to the hospital. The rest of New Directions answers the questions as best they can, trying not to watch as the police take pictures of the pool of blood (and there's still so much of it, even with Blaine gone), the area surrounding it.

They give Sebastian's name, the location of Dalton, explain what happened leading up to the stabbing. Nearly everyone is crying or fighting back tears, Finn irrationally angry the longer he's kept from going to the hospital.

An hour after the police arrive, New Directions is let go, and they pile into two cars, headed for the hospital. Running into the ER, they quickly find Mike and Kurt huddled in a corner, freshly showered and dressed in borrowed hospital scrubs, answering more questions from an officer.

Finn leads the way over, waits for the line of questioning to be finished.

"Kurt? Bro, how-how is he?"

Kurt looks up, meets Finn's eyes. His own are empty, haunted, and he shakes his head slightly.

"Not good. They won't-I can't find anything out, I just know-they took him up to surgery. They're trying to get his next of kin."

"Surgery?"

"They have to take the knife out, repair the damage. He's just-he's lost so much blood, and I don't know-I overheard them say that his heart stopped when they got him here."

Rachel sits down hard in one of the chairs, her hands flying to her mouth. Everyone else stands, stunned and gaping.

"So what do we do now?" Puck asks, taking the chair next to Kurt. His voice is uncharacteristically quiet, soft and afraid.

"Wait, I guess. My dad's-the police called my dad. We can't get Blaine's parents on the phone, or his brother. I don't know-I don't know what to do. What if he isn't okay?"

No one has an answer for Kurt.

They sit in silence until a nurse appears at the doorway.

"Blaine Anderson?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Blaine Anderson?"

"That's us. We're with him," Kurt says loudly enough to gain her attention, standing up. The nurse crosses the room to the small group, flipping through her clipboard.

"You're here with Blaine?"

"Yes, please-how is he?"

"Are any of you family, love?"

"Not-not exactly, but you have to tell us something, please. He's my boyfriend."

"Unfortunately, we can only disclose his condition to his immediate family or a guardian. I know his brother is listed as an emergency contact, is there any way-"

"He's still not picking up." Kurt's voice breaks, his eyes bright with unshed tears. He's been trying to contact Blaine's brother for two hours, but there's no one picking up. "Please, you have to-we need to know if he's okay."

"I'm so sorry," she says quietly, and Kurt can't help but feel she isn't sorry. She's too detached-Blaine's just another patient. She rests a hand on Kurt's arm, looks him directly in the eye. "I suggest you get his family here as soon as you can."

She turns on her heel, leaving them without another word, disappearing back into the ER proper. Kurt drops back into his chair, face in his hands as his shoulders shake.

"What does she mean?" Brittany asks quietly, wringing her hands as she looks around at the solemn faces of the group, everyone silent, lost in their own thoughts. "Kurt? Santana? I don't-"

"Blaine's hurt pretty badly, Brit," Santana says quietly, taking Brittany's hand in hers. Kurt chokes on a sob, shaking his head vigorously. Rachel slides next to him, pulls him into her arms and rocks back and forth, whispering. Brittany still looks confused.

"But why can't they tell us where he is?"

"They need Blaine's family, in case-" Santana trails off, searching for the easiest way to explain what's happening.

"In case something bad happens during the surgery," Quinn offers, joining Rachel next to Kurt and rubbing his arm affectionately.

"Something bad? You mean-is Blaine going to die?"

"He's not dying." Rachel speaks up when Kurt cries out again, clings a little more closely to her. Quinn tries to quiet him, whispers comforting words in his ear.

They don't speaks for another ten minutes; no one looks at anyone else. Kurt's sobs die down after a few minutes, but Rachel holds on, still rubbing his back.

"You said his brother is his emergency contact, Kurt?"

"Blaine lives with his older brother," Kurt whispers, finally raising his head from Rachel's shoulder. He wipes at his eyes with the edge of his scrub top, pulls Blaine's phone from his pocket again. "His parents left him with Cooper when Blaine was thirteen, but Cooper's always working. I've never met him."

"You have his number?"

"They gave me Blaine's phone when they-when they took his clothes. For evidence, or whatever. It's in here."

"You want me to call him again?" Finn offers, noticing the way Kurt's fingers are trembling around the phone. Kurt shakes his head, extricates himself from Rachel's arms.

"I should do it. I'll just-I'm going to go outside." Kurt walks away from the group, slips through the sliding doors. It's cold, and he's not wearing a coat, but he wraps his arms around his chest, hitting Cooper's number again and bringing the phone to his ear.

Cooper answers after the third ring, voice altered somewhat by the wind on his end.

"Blaine? What's going on buddy, I told you my meetings were going to run late, you know not to call me when-"

"Cooper? Is this-you're Blaine's brother?"

"And you're not Blaine. Who is this? How'd you get his phone?"

"My name's Kurt Hummel. I'm-I'm Blaine's boyfr-a friend of Blaine's."

"Blaine's boyfriend."

"Yeah."

"Kurt, why are you calling me on my brother's phone? Not that this chat isn't long overdue, but I have to get to another meeting, and Blaine should-"

"Blaine's in the hospital," Kurt blurts out in a rush, wincing when he hears how rough his voice is.

"I'm sorry?"

"Blaine's-we're at the emergency room."

"And is he okay?"

"He was-" Kurt hesitates, doesn't know how to continue. Doesn't want to say the words out loud. "He was stabbed."

There's a long silence, only Cooper's quiet breathing indicating that the call hasn't disconnected.

"Blaine was stabbed," Cooper repeats, his voice quiet and laced with disbelief.

"Cooper, I'm so sorry, I just-we didn't know, none of us-"

"Blaine was stabbed."

"In the leg. His thigh. He lost-he lost a lot of blood. They won't tell us anything else, none of us are family, and-"

"Where are you?"

"Lima General. Cooper-"

"I'll be there in fifteen. Kurt-call me back if anything-if anything happens."

The words hit Kurt hard, make him freeze up as Cooper disconnects the call. He stares dumbly at the phone in his hand, blinking slowly. The concept that something could actually happen to Blaine hasn't really settled yet, hasn't really taken hold.

But the urgency of the nurse, the whispered words, the amount of blood-Kurt wonders if he should be preparing for the worst. He walks back to his friends in a daze, still looking at Blaine's phone, not really seeing it.

"Did you get a hold of him?" Finn asks when Kurt approaches. Kurt looks up, stares blankly at Finn for a moment. "Kurt?"

"What? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I-he's on his way."

"That's good, then, right? We'll know something soon."

"Yeah."

Kurt retakes his seat, and they return to their silent vigil. Kurt thinks they must look ridiculous, twelve teenagers clustered around each other in an emergency room on a Friday night. Twenty minutes passes quickly without word on Blaine. The doors open for what seems like the thousandth time that night, and Kurt looks up on instinct.

He recognizes Cooper Anderson instantly, from the pictures in Blaine's room and the family resemblance. He stands, waves to gain Cooper's attention.

"Cooper?"

"Kurt?" He crosses the room quickly, takes Kurt's hand to shake. "And you guys are-"

"We're in Glee club with Blaine."

Cooper nods, looking quickly around the group before focusing on Kurt again.

"What the hell happened?"

Kurt explains as quickly as he can, describes the confrontation with the Warblers, Sebastian pulling out the knife. He finishes with the arrival of the cops, the ambulance, ending up in the emergency room. Cooper's pale by the time Kurt finishes, and he runs a shaky hand through his hair, freeing some of it from the gel he wears.

"And you don't know what's going on?" Cooper asks.

"They won't tell us anything."

"Okay. Okay. I'm going to get some information, see what's happening. I'll let you-just hang tight, I guess. I'll be back."

Cooper heads toward the admit desk, is let back through the security door after showing his ID. He disappears after a moment, and New Directions is alone in the waiting room again. Kurt sighs, sits down in his chair.

"I guess we wait," Finn says quietly, leaning back and stretching his legs in front of him.

\- - - -

Cooper comes back after an hour, his face nearly translucent, his hair disheveled and bearing evidence of how many times he's run his hands through it. He approaches the group again-none of them have left, they've all explained to their parents the importance of staying-and sighs heavily.

"Cooper?" Kurt's voice is timid, afraid. He almost doesn't want to hear what's wrong, what's happened to Blaine.

"It's bad." Cooper shrugs one shoulder, his voice heavy with sadness and exhaustion. Kurt's heart drops, and he shakes his head.

"Did you see him?"

"He's still in surgery. They're almost done, they said they'll take him to intensive care next."

"What's happening?" Kurt asks, searching Cooper's face for a clue.

Cooper looks around at them, gauging how much to reveal, what to say.

"The knife hit his femoral artery. That's why there was so much blood. The only reason he didn't bleed out on the floor was because you left the knife in, and it helped slow the bleeding."

"But-"

"But he'd lost a lot of blood by the time they got here. He, uh-his heart stopped. They brought him back, but he was down for awhile."

"Oh, god." Rachel's crying openly again, but everyone else seems too stunned to really react. Blaine was practically dead, even if only for a matter of minutes. He almost died.

"He's okay now?" Kurt asks, his voice small.

"They've been giving him blood transfusions the whole time he's been here, throughout the surgery. They brought him straight to the operating room."

"Will he-is he going to be okay? Cooper?"

"They don't know yet, Kurt. The blood loss alone-he lost most of his blood volume, and they can only replace it so quickly. The injury to his leg is bad, too. They had to take the knife out, repair the damage to the vessels and the rest of his leg. It's too soon to tell."

"What are they thinking though? They had to have told you something?" Kurt knows he's being pushy, insistent, but this isn't enough. He needs a definitive answer, needs to know if Blaine's going to be okay.

"If he makes it through the night in ICU, his chances are pretty good. They think if he can make it the first twenty-four hours, his body will start to heal itself. It's just-it's going to be tough for the first day."

"So he could still be okay?"

"We have to hope for the best," Cooper ends with a shrug, looking around at the group again. "You guys should go home. Even if they let him have visitors you won't be allowed up there, so you might as well wait for news at home."

"You'll keep us updated?" Mike asks, already pulling on his coat, helping Tina into hers. He's still visibly shaken, but stands up a bit taller, trying to push down his lingering fear.

"If Kurt leaves me his number, I can let him know-"

"I'm staying here."

Kurt crosses his arms, levels Cooper with what he hopes is a defiant stare. He's not leaving, not after everything that's happened and everything he's been through. Cooper meets his gaze, considers him.

"Kurt, they're going to be strict on the family only rule. He's going to be in intensive care, he's going to be monitored closely, and you don't want to see him like that."

"I don't care. He took that knife for me, I need-I have to make sure he's going to be okay. Cooper, please. You're his guardian. You can make an exception."

Cooper looks Kurt up and down critically, takes a deep breath.

"Fine. But only you, Kurt. Everyone else-it's going to be a long night. I'll let him know you were here, though."

The rest of the Glee Club leaves one by one, offering Kurt hugs and reassurance, but Finn and Rachel linger, waiting. Rachel reaches out, touches Kurt's arm.

"Kurt, are you sure-"

"I need to see him, Rach. For myself."

"I'll tell Burt you're not coming home," Finn says after a moment, clapping Kurt on the shoulder. "I'll explain everything to him. Just-give Blaine our best, okay? We're thinking about him."

Kurt nods, and he's left alone with Blaine's brother, the two of them sizing each other up awkwardly.

"So-"

"They told me to go wait up in the surgery waiting room. I guess-I'll tell them to let you through, too. Let's go."

\- - - - -

They end up sitting side-by-side in the surgery waiting room, tapping their feet in mirroring patterns while they wait for word. Cooper gets pulled away after half an hour by Blaine's doctor, comes back with a relieved look on his face.

"Everything went as well as they hoped. They've got him in recovery now, but they'll be moving him to the ICU soon. He's still low on blood volume, and his blood pressure's not where they'd like it, but he did well. They're optimistic."

"And that's a good thing?"

"Sounded like it. We just have to keep hoping for the best."

"So now what?"

"They said we could wait out here, they'd bring us up to ICU when he's settled in there."

The elevator dings behind them, startling them both. Two police officers step out, heading directly for them.

"Cooper Anderson?"

"That's me. What's-how can I help you?"

"We hear your brother's gonna pull through, the surgery went well?"

"That's what we're hoping. Is this about the kid who's responsible for this?" Cooper responds.

"We've got Sebastian Smythe in custody, yes. We came up to collect the knife for evidence, but the case seems fairly cut and dry with the number of witnesses, the physical evidence. We're bringing him up on charges of physical assault and assault with a deadly weapon, among a few others."

"And then?"

"Depending on how the hearing plays out, we may be calling on Blaine to testify. We'll keep in touch, as will the prosecutor's office."

"But you've got him in custody?"

"We have," the first officer respond. A scrub nurse comes through the doors, hands him the bloody knife in an evidence bag. "We're glad to hear he's doing well."

Cooper nods, and the officers are gone as soon as they'd arrived. Kurt sinks into his chair in relief, passing a hand over his eyes. Cooper claps him on the shoulder, smiling.

"It's going to be okay, Kurt. Blaine's gonna be fine, and that Sebastian kid is going to get what's coming to him. Everything's going to be fine."

"Anderson?"

Another nurse peeks her head around the door, smiling at Kurt and Cooper. She walks over to them, holding out her hand.

"My name's Ally, I'm here to take you up to ICU? Blaine's just getting settled."

She leads them into the elevator, keeping up a steady stream of chatter as they walk.

"He came out of the anesthesia well, his pain's under control too. We've sedated him again just until he's settled and a bit more comfortable, but the surgery went well, and he'll hopefully heal up nicely."

They pass through a door marked "Intensive Care Unit," still following a half-step behind Ally. She pauses at the nurse's station, checks the board-and Kurt can read B. Anderson, 8, scribbled across it, accompanied with a series of letters and codes-and leads them to the room marked 8.

"Blaine's in here. I'm assuming-you're both family?"

"Kurt's with me, yeah."

"Visiting hours are fairly strict in ICU, but given that Blaine's just been admitted the staff is willing to make an exception tonight. Just a few things about his setup-Blaine's no longer on a ventilator, but we do have him on supplementary oxygen, so there's a tube under his nose providing that for him. There are several monitors around his bed, measuring his vital signs, and his leg is heavily bandaged. He's also got a few IV's, and we're still working on catching up his blood volume with blood transfusions, as well as giving him some pain meds and regular fluids."

She pauses to make sure they've understood, and holds her hand to the door, ready to slide it open.

Kurt gasps as soon as Blaine comes into view, tears pricking his eyes. Blaine looks tiny in the bed, surrounded by tubes and wires, the monitor above his head almost monstrous. The oxygen tubing Ally mentioned looks itchy and uncomfortable, and Kurt's fingers twitch to reach for it, pull it away.

Blaine's eyes are closed, but he looks peaceful-there are no lines of pain on his face, no evidence of the suffering he's gone through. Kurt prefers this to the blood-covered Blaine on the parking lot floor, and he crosses a few steps to the bed, takes Blaine's hand.

"Blaine? Honey, I'm-I'm here."

Kurt doesn't notice Ally slipping away, Cooper sitting in the chair next to the bed. He only has eyes for Blaine. He runs a gentle thumb over the back of Blaine's hand, unaware he's crying until a tear drops down onto the bed.

"God, Blaine."

"He's okay, Kurt."

"He looks so vulnerable like this."

"He's always looked like that when he's hurt."

Kurt knows Cooper is talking about Sadie Hawkins, knows Cooper's seen Blaine hurt like this more than anyone should. He pulls up a second chair, rests his head next to Blaine's hand and entwines their fingers.

"He really loves you, Kurt. You're all he talks about at home."

"I didn't think he talked about me. I didn't think he was comfortable with it."

"I'm nothing like our dad. Our parents are assholes. If Blaine thinks you're worth loving, that's good enough for me. You care about him too, don't you?"

"More than I think he knows."

"Don't let that change."

Kurt nods, closing his eyes and resting his head against Blaine's hand. He doesn't realize he's fallen asleep until he starts awake, Blaine's fingers brushing unsteadily through his hair.

Kurt sits up, looks to Cooper, who's snoring softly in opposite chair. Blaine's eyes are open, hazy but focused on Kurt, and a tiny smile is tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"You're awake."

"Hey," Blaine rasps, his voice barely audible in the room. Kurt smiles, rests his hand along Blaine's cheek.

"Hey."

Kurt lets out a laugh, returning Blaine's smile.

"Welcome back."


	3. Chapter 3

Kurt steps out of the elevator on the sixth floor, adjusting his grip on his coffee cup, and heads down the path to Blaine's room, his feet moving unconsciously after the last four days of visits. He knocks on the open door, peeking his head around before entering the room proper.

"Hey!" Blaine's sitting up in bed, his leg propped on a small stack of pillows, his smile reaching his eyes. He holds his arms out to Kurt, folds him in a hug, kissing his cheek. Kurt drops his shoulder bag next to his customary chair, drops down until he's sitting cross-legged next to Blaine's bed.

"Where's Cooper?" Kurt takes a sip of his nonfat mocha while Blaine answers, smiles when he realizes Blaine's practically salivating at the coffee.

"He had to go back to work, they wouldn't give him another day. He'll be back in a few hours, though. You know, it's horribly unfair to be drinking that in front of me," Blaine whines, frowning when Kurt takes an exaggerated sip, holding the mocha on his tongue longer than he normally would. Blaine makes a grab for the cup, hisses when he jostles his injured leg.

"You're not supposed to be drinking caffeine," Kurt chastises, moving the cup out of Blaine's grip and shaking his head. "You should also be taking it easy." He rubs a comforting hand along Blaine's knee, working out the muscle twitch that remains after Blaine settles back.

Blaine's dressed in gym shorts and a threadbare sweatshirt, the bandages on his thigh peeking out under the edge of his shorts. They're bright white, and Kurt knows that means they've been changed recently. He runs his thumb along the edge of the bandage, notices the way Blaine tenses as he does.

"Does it still hurt much?"

Blaine shrugs, pushing Kurt's hand away from his leg. Kurt settles back in his chair, watching Blaine carefully.

"It's still pretty bad most of the day. They had me walking again today, which made it flare up. But it's not as bad as it was."

And Kurt remembers, the way Blaine cried the first night they lowered his pain medication from a steady dose to regulated , the way Blaine twisted his hands in the bedsheets, shaking and sweating when the medication wore off. He reaches for Blaine's hand, tangles their fingers together and squeezes.

"What's it-what does it feel like?" he asks, and he's not sure why. He and Blaine haven't talked about this yet, have talked about everything but Sebastian and the knife. Kurt's morbidly curious-if not for Blaine, this would be him.

Blaine lets out a heavy sigh, his head thudding back against the pillow. Kurt keeps their fingers entwined, brushes a gentle thumb along the back of Blaine's.

"You don't have to talk about it."

"Did Cooper tell you they were considering bringing in a counselor?"

Kurt makes a quiet noise of surprise, shakes his head. He and Cooper have spent most of their time together at Blaine's bed, their conversations limited to greetings when they pass in the hallway.

"The resident on call last night decided I haven't been 'dealing with what happened in a healthy way'," Blaine scoffs, adjusting his grip on Kurt's hand. He pulls on the IV line still in his arm when he moves, frowns when it tugs on his skin. He's lost most of the equipment he'd had in the ICU-his heart monitor is gone, as is the oxygen tubing, and Blaine's in his own clothes, a huge improvement from his stint in the ICU.

Kurt doesn't speak, waits for Blaine to continues. He's not sure if he entirely disagrees with the resident's assessment, because Blaine clearly hasn't been dealing with what happened, has been thinking about anything and everything except for what happened. He squeezes Blaine's hand when the silence remains, trying to encourage him.

"I mean it's just-I just haven't really thought about it," Blaine shrugs, playing his fingers along the bones of Kurt's wrist, not meeting Kurt's eyes. "What's there to really think about?"

Kurt gapes, confused. He sits forward, tips Blaine's chin up until they can look at each other.

"What's there to think about? Blaine, you were stabbed. By someone you considered a friend. You had surgery to removed a knife from your leg. You don't think that's something you should process? Deal with?"

Blaine shrugs again, but doesn't stop looking at Kurt. His voice is clear when he speaks again, confident.

"I did it for you, though. Like, I'm sure it's going to hit me sometime. Maybe when I see Sebastian again, maybe later. But right now-I'm not upset. I'm not really anything. It happened."

"I don't understand how you can be so calm about this, Blaine. You were stabbed. It's not like Sebastian threw a slushy in your face. He wanted to kill you. He almost did."

"He wanted to hurt you," Blaine whispers, his voice barely audible. His words hang in the room, make Kurt suck in a sharp breath, pause.

Blaine's not upset because he's glad it's not Kurt. The reason Blaine's able to process the surgery and the pain and the recovery is because he'd rather be hurt than have Kurt be hurt.

"That doesn't mean you have to be so stoic about this, Blaine. You're allowed to be scared. You're allowed to be upset."

"That's what they told me after Sadie Hawkins," Blaine whispers, and everything falls into place for Kurt. He lets Blaine continue, but he thinks he understands. "They told me that it was okay to feel and okay to be angry and okay to hurt. I punched a wall through in the school bathroom instead."

"This doesn't have to be like that," Kurt says quietly. "I have to deal with this, too. We all do. Tina says Mike's been zoning out all over the place, I can't focus in class-we're all trying to process this."

"I'm sorry."

"Blaine, this isn't your fault. God, none of this is your fault."

"He's my friend."

"He's not your friend, Blaine. He's never been your friend. He brought a knife to a dance battle. That's not "friend" behavior."

Blaine's quiet for a long moment, still playing his fingers along Kurt's wrist. He sighs, shrugging.

"I just don't really want to think about it. It's bad enough right now, trying to do this and do the physical therapy and get out of here. It's not that I'm doing this on purpose, it's just-it's easier not to think about it right now."

"That's fair," Kurt relents, extricating his arm from Blaine's grip. He picks his coffee back up, settling back in his chair. "Just promise me-you won't do this forever? You have to process this at some point, and just-don't punch any walls in, okay?"

Blaine laughs, and agrees, settling back into his bed as the conversation slips over to Rachel's antics planning a get-well serenade for Blaine.

\- - - - -

"Is Kurt still planning to come by today?" Cooper asks, helping Blaine into a pair of loose sweatpants, tossing the gym shorts in the duffel on the floor. Blaine nods, working a clean shirt over his head and shrugging his arms into the sleeves, a task made significantly easier with the lack of an IV in his arm.

Cooper hands him his crutches and Blaine swings himself off the bed, hobbling to the chair by the window, sinking down. He props his foot up with Cooper's help, resting it on another chair. Cooper perches on the bed, cross-legged, watching his brother.

"He wanted to come by to help you sign me out, I guess," Blaine says, absently playing with the bandages underneath his sweats. It's been a week since the stabbing, and he's significantly better-his blood pressure is normal, his blood volume and cell counts within the normal range.

"Is Dr. Michelson coming by again?"

"He wants to check everything over, yeah. He came by last night when you were down at the cafeteria."

"And?" Cooper's watching Blaine expectantly, clearly waiting for some kind of bad news. There haven't been many setbacks in the last week-excepting a minor infection cleared up with IV antibiotics and general soreness, Blaine's exceeded everyone's standards for his recovery.

"And everything's still fine. The incision is healing, the internal stitches are dissolving like they should be. He was impressed by the way I used the crutches, so yeah."

"That's good," Cooper sighs, relief visible on his face. He's gone back to work during the days, missed most of Blaine's physical therapy and work on mobility, but Blaine's assured him that he can get around easily.

There's a knock at the door, and Cooper turns, smiling when Dr. Michelson walks into the room, flipping through Blaine's chart. The older man shuts the door behind him, walks over to Blaine in the chair.

"Everything still looks great, Blaine," he says with a smile, putting the chart down and holding out a hand to Blaine to shake. "Your last blood work came back this morning clear, and the vitals Lisa recorded are awesome. I just want to take a quick last look at your leg, and then we'll see about getting you out of here."

Blaine nods, hands already working at the drawstring of his pants. Cooper folds himself off the bed, helps Blaine work the pants down his hips carefully. Dr. Michelson unwinds the bandage from Blaine's leg, reveals the still-ugly gash across the thigh, held together by a row of stitches, still somewhat red. He nods, tossing the old bandage and pulling out a new one from the supply cart, demonstrating for Blaine how to re-wrap the wound.

"Everything's coming along nicely," he says, showing Blaine how to tie off the bandage. "Keep this dry until the sutures come out, and when you need to change the bandage, we'll send you home with some extras. Don't put any unnecessary weight on your leg-it's still tender, as you could tell, and we just want to ensure that you heal up completely before we make any risky movements. Lisa will set you up with all the discharge paperwork, but if anything changes-if you're in severe pain, there's extra bleeding, anything-give my office a call, okay?"

He slips a business card each into Blaine's and Cooper's hands.

"I hope your recovery continues to be this great," he says as he shakes Blaine's hand one last time, leaving the room.

Blaine and Cooper settle back into quiet conversation once Blaine does his sweats back up, waiting patiently for Blaine's nurse to come let them go. Kurt shows up about fifteen minutes before Blaine's discharge, a single flower in his hands.

Blaine smiles when Kurt walks in the room, takes the flower with a kiss. Cooper claps Kurt on the shoulder, pulls him into a one-armed hug.

"Thank you for being with him the past couple days," Cooper whispers, even though he knows Blaine can hear. "I would've been here, but I couldn't get them to give me another day off."

"It's not a problem," Kurt says, cheeks coloring with a faint blush. He rests a hand on Blaine's shoulder, squeezing lightly. "Besides, it's more interesting here than at school or at home."

Blaine punches him lightly on the arm, Cooper laughing. They continue to tease each other until Lisa walks into the room with a wheelchair and a stack of papers, walks Blaine and Cooper through the specifics of Blaine's aftercare and injury care. Blaine almost fights the wheelchair, but Kurt points out how tiring it would be to crutch down to Cooper's car, so Blaine relents.

Kurt helps him out of the chair into the back seat once Cooper pulls around to the front of the hospital, arranges Blaine's leg on the seat with a pillow. He presses a kiss to Blaine's temple when he slides out of the car, promises he'll meet them at the house.

Blaine's asleep when Cooper pulls up at home, and Kurt helps get Blaine from the car, carrying his crutches while Cooper pulls Blaine into his arms, carries him upstairs to bed. They settle him under the covers, propping up his leg and tucking him in, Kurt easing onto the bed next to Blaine.

Cooper shuts the light on his way out of the room with a smile.

Kurt slides down next to Blaine, tangles their fingers together.

It's not that everything's perfect. Blaine's still in pain, will need crutches for awhile, is due to miss a few more days of school. Kurt's furious with Sebastian, and knows the upcoming trial will be messy and frustrating.

But here, in Blaine's room, snuggled under the covers-everything else seems to pale in comparison.


End file.
